Keeping toddlers apart

Ajbaaretz

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 1:57 pm

I am soon expecting baby#3, and son#1 and son#2 will be a few months shy of 4 and 2 when baby is due. And I am stressed!

Son#1 and son#2 love each other very much and need to be together ALL THE TIME. It is a rare sight that they play with separate toys in separate locations. 99.9% of the time they are either wanting to play with the same toy or 1 boy finds something he wants to play with then the other starts bothering him (bopping him on the head, knocking down his tower, etc.)

I'm teaching them about sharing, waiting, and asking for turns, but it's a long process, and I find that I'm having to physically intervene in their play constantly. Someone grabbed something from the other one, someone is hysterical, someone is biting hard, someone is knocking the other on the head with a wooden block...it never ends. How can I keep this up while nursing a baby?!

On rare occasions, I can convince my older son to take a toy to his room, but usually the little one gets upset then because he wants to be with his brother (even though 5 seconds ago his older brother pushed him onto his face...) The only thing that keeps them both mostly calm and not fighting is a video.

Any suggestions on how to keep the boys apart for part of playtime? 2 gated areas with a demilitarized zone between? This poor baby is gonna get milk in 15-second increments at this rate...